The Little Things
by Meguchin
Summary: Kagami has never felt this way before. He's been losing his appetite, slipping up during basketball practice, and he suspects it's all because of one blue-eyed, blue-haired boy. The sweet love story between an idiot, and an incomprehensible, basketball-loving boy ensues! (Kagami x Kuroko)
1. Chapter 1: Meeting You

**DISCLAIMER:** Kuroko no Basket doesn't belong to me.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Meeting You**

"Excuse me."

Kagami took the half-eaten burger out of his mouth and turned his head left, than right, looking for the source of the soft voice. It was getting dark – the streetlamps had come on a few minutes ago – and he had wanted to get home as quickly as possible in anticipation for tomorrow's first basketball practice with his new high school team.

He gave up his search, writing it off as some voice in his head induced by fatigue and hunger, and started to continue along his way. He reoriented his body in the direction of his apartment, but a short figure was suddenly blocking his way. He yelped as he registered the fact that the little person had been in front of him all along, taking a step back and almost dropping the burger onto the sidewalk.

"Excuse me," repeated the boy, looking up at him expressionlessly. He barely came up to Kagami's shoulders; did he miss the boy's presence because he hadn't really bothered to look down?

"Er… Sorry," Kagami replied uncertainly as he regained his composure and stepped off onto the road, making room for the boy to pass him.

"Thank you."

The boy politely nodded and proceeded in the opposite direction at a leisurely pace. Kagami stepped back onto the sidewalk, shook his head and started to walk home again while stuffing his face, already forgetting about what had just happened.

"Excuse me."

Kagami paused. He lowered the burger in his right hand, and slowly turned around, readying himself to focus on the slight figure he suspected would be behind him. He turned, and was relieved at the fact that he could clearly see the blue-haired boy from before standing in front of him. He was wearing a school uniform that looked familiar, and his messy bangs skimmed his wide blue eyes.

"What?"

"Well… you seem to have some sauce on your face." The boy calmly pointed to his own mouth area, still making eye contact with Kagami unblinkingly.

"Huh…" Kagami wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, and saw that he did in fact have some strange mixture of ketchup and mustard smeared there. Feeling his face turning red, he hastily tried to scrub off any excess sauce that may have accidentally found itself onto other parts of his face with his palm.

"Ah, thanks-" The boy was thrusting a plain restaurant napkin at him with one hand, still with that passive look in his blue eyes.

Kagami felt his face flush and mentally punched himself in the stomach. He tried to accept the napkin in a delicate manner, but his hand refused to listen to his intentions. He snatched it without so much as a thank you or any other polite gesture.

He pictured himself jumping off of the bridge that was just a five minute walk from his apartment.

Kagami wiped his hand with the napkin, and vigorously rubbed his entire face again, hoping it would act as an eraser and remove him from the face of the planet.

"Hey, thanks for the tissue I guess-" Kagami had finally gathered enough courage to say something to the boy, but when he looked down at where he had been a minute ago, there was no one there.

Kagami looked all around him, making sure to not only look down at the concrete sidewalk, but also up in the branches of the trees that lined the road. He was nowhere to be seen. "Whatever," Kagami muttered under his breath. He balled up the used napkin in his hand, about to toss it basketball-style into the nearest trash bin, but again, his hand wouldn't listen to what his brain wanted. He scowled at himself and pocketed it.

He turned around once again, finally being able to head home. Instead of sacrificing the napkin, he threw away the burger he had almost finished eating. The burger flew perfectly into the trash can without hitting the edges, but Kagami hadn't even bothered to look. He had lost his appetite.

This time, the image of the blue-haired, blue-eyed boy stayed clearly etched in his mind.


	2. Chapter 1 Extra: Bakagami!

**Chapter 1.5: Bakagami!**

Kagami kicked off his sneakers and threw his gym bag onto the floor next to his apartment's entrance. He dragged himself to his living room and fell to the ground, stretching his long, muscular limbs out and yawning.

He dug his hand into his left pocket and took out the used, crumpled up napkin. Sitting up hastily, he placed the discoloured ball on the center of his coffee table and leaned over to rest his chin on the wooden surface.

Kagami stared at it blankly for a moment. Suddenly, he pushed the coffee table forcefully away and stood up, breathing heavily.

He put his large hand to his chest; why was his heart beating so goddamn fast?

"What the hell am I doing? Am I going insane?" he yelled out loud in English.

He grabbed the balled up napkin, which had fallen to the floor, and scrambled to the kitchen. He confronted the garbage can, aggressively stomped on the half-broken foot pedal to open the lid, and slammed it in.

Kagami ran to his bedroom and jumped into his bed, muffling his face with a pillow and internally ripping his hair out. He stayed still until he felt he could breathe regularly again, then rolled onto his back, staring at the stuccoed ceiling.

Who was that boy? Wait, what? Why was that was his first thought? Kagami could feel his face getting hot again, so he got out of bed and dragged himself to the bathroom. He splashed his face with some cool water from the sink, and looked in the mirror. Not only did he look tired now, but he felt like he had aged an additional twenty years. Why was he so stressed out? Should he get checked out by a doctor?

He shrugged and quickly whipped off his sweat-stained clothes, throwing them into the laundry bin. A shower would cool him down.

A few minutes later, Kagami pushed the shower door open and stepped out, feeling completely refreshed. He took a clean towel from the shelf, tied it around his waist, and took another to dry his hair with. Living alone had its perks, especially since he could walk around half-naked without anyone complaining about his lack of decency.

He plodded to the kitchen while rubbing his soaking hair. Letting the moist towel drape over his shoulders, he poured himself a glass of cold water and opened the pantry for something to snack on. He grabbed a granola bar and ripped off the wrapper, regretting that he hadn't finished eating his burger earlier.

 _Huh?_ Why hadn't he finished that last burger? That had never happened to him before. Some weird memory flickered in the corner of Kagami's mind.

Feeling strangely uneasy, he went to throw the wrapper away. He stamped on the trash can's pedal, flipping the lid open.

 _It's getting full. I should empty it tomorrow morning_ , he thought just before he threw the wrapper in. But then it caught his eye: a little balled up piece of trash.

The short memory rose into his mind along with the color that was beginning to take over his face. His foot released the pedal, causing the lid to fall down. Simultaneously, he tossed the granola bar onto the counter and quickly paced down the hall to his room, forgetting all about this appetite once again.

Kagami fell onto his bed face-down and just laid there, for once not falling asleep instantaneously. _Am I going to die…?_ he thought, suddenly wondering if all this was because he had contracted some obscure disease.

 _I hope it won't affect practice tomorrow… Who the hell was he…_


	3. Chapter 2: Kagami-kun?

**Chapter 2: Kagami-kun?**

Riko blew the whistle hanging around her neck. "Ok first years! Line up quickly! Don't make me say it twice!" she shouted, pointing to the space in front of her.

A couple of young boys of rather average height shyly shuffled their way to the area she was indicating, standing side by side while slouching and trying not to make eye contact. Hyuuga, who had also walked over to stand by Riko, smirked good-naturedly as he looked at them, remembering how he had felt the first time he trained under Riko's directions.

"Right, listen up! I'm Aida Riko, your-"

Riko stopped mid-sentence as the door on the far side of the gym slammed open. Everyone turned to focus their attention on the disturbance, which made her cross her arms and pout.

A boy with bright red hair stood at the entrance, doubled over and panting. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his arm and ambled over to where everyone was gathered. As he approached, Riko's grimace turned into a look of disbelief. Her eyes got wider and wider; now that he was standing next to the other first years, she could see that in comparison, he had a much superior height and build. Even when she mentally matched him against the second years, his potential was through the roof!

No way this guy was a first year. He had to be a third year that had transferred to Seirin this semester, or maybe he'd been held back a few grades?

When he finally managed to catch his breath, the boy straightened up and used his shirt to wipe his face. "Sorry. It's Kagami Taiga," he said matter-of-factly, looking around the gym at no one in particular. When his gaze happened to the right side, Koganei, who was standing in Kagami's field of vision, nervously jumped behind Mitobe and peeked out from his side.

Riko raised an eyebrow and looked at Hyuuga, who had his arms crossed and was frowning at the newcomer. "All right… Kagami, eh," she said, pretending to flip through the papers on her clipboard. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned his physical capabilities and had to make a concentrated effort to hide her shock. _Seriously, a first year?!_ _His stats are insane! What on earth is he?_ _Whatever, I'll have to deal with him later…_

Riko slapped the papers onto the clipboard. "Okay! Now that we're all here, I'm Aida Riko, your-"

"Excuse me."

A quiet voice suddenly perked up, taking everyone by surprise. They all looked around the gym, trying to figure out where the source of the tiny voice was.

Kagami stood up a bit straighter, and took a deep breath. He recognized this voice, and was determined not to fall victim to its speaker again.

"Uhm…" A short boy with messy blue hair was standing beside Kagami. Slowly, everyone's eyes focussed in on him and their brains managed to process that in fact, someone had suddenly appeared without their notice.

Kagami twitched.

"Huh… Ah!" Riko jolted back in surprise, elbowing Hyuuga quite hard in the stomach. Hyuuga grunted in pain, and then squatted on the ground with his arms around his lower abdomen.

There was an awkward moment of silence as everyone stared at the boy, until Koganei came out from behind Mitobe's back. "H-how long were you here for?" he managed to squeak, visibly shaken from the recent traumas he had just endured.

"Uhm… I was here the whole time, senpai. I even got to see Kagami-kun come in late and act very rudely on his first day."

 _Kagami-kun?_ Kagami twitched again at the sound of the passive voice articulating his name.

"Who are you calling Kagami-kun, brat?" he huffed, turning to face him. The boy had already been looking up at him, and as Kagami looked down, their gazes met. The boy showed no signs of giving up the staring contest, and it was Kagami who broke eye contact first, swiftly turning his head away and covering his face with his hand.

"Kagami-kun is Kagami-kun."

Kagami felt the color rise another inch up his face as he repeated his name over and over again. Maybe he really was sick and should have gone to the hospital today, instead of coming here.

Riko had collected herself and was looking through her papers again. "Er, did you sign up for the basketball club during clubs week?" she asked, looking up from her search. "I don't see you on the list…"

The boy simply nodded. "Excuse me, senpai. I'm sorry for the confusion. I'm just here because I love basketball."

Everyone looked at him in puzzlement. Why was this boy here, exactly?

As soon as their thoughts wandered, they realized that the boy was gone, and that they had been staring at air for the last few moments.

"Where did he…" Izuki muttered aloud, dropped the basketball he had been holding to his hip.

"I'm over here." A small voice could barely be heard over the reverberating bounce of the basketball on the floor. On the sidelines, the boy was sitting on a bench, raising his hand to draw attention to himself.

No one moved. "Ha… Could you at least tell us your name?" Hyuuga said hesitantly, saying the first thing that came to his mind.

"Kuroko Tetsuya."

Riko looked at Hyuuga, who just shrugged and shook his head. She nodded decisively at him and put the whistle to her mouth. "Ok! Now that everyone is here, even our own personal cheerleader, we can finally start. I'm Aida Riko, your coach for this season…"

Kagami tuned Riko out and stared across the gym at Kuroko. _Ah… so that's his name,_ he thought, wiping away beads of sweat that were forming on his forehead.

He was fiddling with a button on his uniform, and Kagami found himself studying him, trying to elucidate every little detail that made him who he was.

He had pulled his left sock up higher than the right, and his hair was just as messy as last night; he probably hadn't combed his hair this morning.

 _What did he eat for breakfast today? What does his shampoo smell like? Why do I care?_ Kagami felt agitated. He wanted to run as fast as he could to the nearest bridge, and yell as loud as he could over the water to get rid of this strange, pent-up frustration.

"Kagami… Kagami! Are you listening?" Riko had stopped talking, and instead was glowering at him, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Y-yes. Ma'am. Yes ma'am," Kagami said, trying hard to speak politely. Riko didn't answer, and resumed her talk about the team's policies, and their goals for the coming school year.

Kagami tried to focus on what she was saying, but his eyes drifted back to the spot where Kuroko was sitting. He let himself space out and stare in his direction, until he realized that Kuroko was staring back.

Completely embarrassed, Kagami snapped out of his daze and made sure to put all his attention and effort into looking anywhere but at Kuroko. His heart was beating intensely, and he wondered if Riko would let him leave practice early so he could visit the local clinic. His symptoms were starting to accumulate; what if the disease was progressively getting worse?

 _Kuroko Tetsuya._ Little did Kagami know, that was the name of the disease he had contracted.

But it was also the name of the medicine that could save him.


	4. Chapter 3: Mistakes

**Chapter 3: Mistakes**

The whistle blew and Riko cupped her hands to her mouth, loudspeaker style. "Run play number three!" she yelled. Immediately afterwards, she picked up her clipboard from the bench and started furiously scribbling notes on what the first years needed to work on, making up training routines for them on the spot.

 _Hmmm…_ she thought, tapping the pen on her pursed lips. _I should assign Furihata-kun drills to strengthen his basic dribbling skills. Kawahara-kun needs more defensive training and Fukuda-kun could use some shooting practice…_

Completely lost in thought, she continued to write when a loud crash erupted from the far side of the gym. Surprised, she looked up to see a small figure lying face down on the ground, open bottles and water spilled everywhere around her. Riko sighed, put down her clipboard, and started towards where Kuroko was lying.

On her way over, Hyuuga caught up with her and matched her pace. "Again?" he asked, a friendly smirk playing on his face. Riko smiled and shook her head.

Before either of them could make it to Kuroko's side, there was a flash of red that cut them off. Kagami had reached the far side of the gym, and was already helping him up.

"Isn't it already the fourth time this week?!" Kagami scolded Kuroko, roughly grabbing his arm and pulling him up to his feet. The way he spoke made it seem like he was trying very hard to sound brusque, but an obvious gentleness found its way through his words.

Kuroko regained his balance, and started to pat off his uniform. "Actually Kagami-kun, I think it was the fifth," he said pointedly without looking at him. Immediately, he started to pick up the water bottles and put them back in the crate that he had obviously dropped in the middle of his delivery.

"Seriously…" Kagami muttered as he bent down to help. "Oy, can someone get us a mop…?" he turned his head to call out to someone nearby, but as he looked around, he was greeted with smug grins from all around the room.

"What the hell-"

"Ne ne~ Mama Kagami~" Riko said in a joking tone, trying her best to conceal her laughter, "Could you come teach me how to tie my laces?"

Hyuuga, who had been standing beside her, had taken off his glasses and was covering his face with one hand. His body was perceptibly shaking, obviously from trying to keep down the laughter, and the rest of the team was in the same state.

Kagami suddenly realized what had just happened. He dropped the bottles he had been holding in his hands and shot up from his squatting position. He could feel the colour rising in his face, and all it was doing was building thanks to the snickering he could hear behind him.

"Kagami-kun, are you alright?" Kuroko asked, looking up at him with his wide blue eyes.

Kagami refused to look him in the face. Instead, he kicked a few of the bottles that were in the way and raced out of the gym through the nearest doors. Behind him, there was a loud thunk, and he could hear Riko yelling "Kuroko-kun!" but he didn't bother to look back.

Kagami ran a couple of laps around the school field to blow off some steam. After a solid half an hour had passed, he made his way to the change rooms. Throwing a towel over his neck, he walked to the sink and splashed cold water on his face, hoping it would cool him down even more. He looked up and inspected himself in the mirror. It didn't look like he had changed at all, so what was the big deal?

He shrugged and threw the towel into a laundry bin. There was still half an hour of practice left… He thought he should probably head back to the gym or else there was a good chance Riko would come hunt him down, and then he would never hear the end of how badly he had behaved.

Kagami left the change room, and walked back to the gym at a leisurely pace. When he arrived, he quietly tried to push the heavy door open, hoping that he could make a stealthy entrance. If he could sneak in and join in on drills without a word, maybe no one would say anything.

Huh? Kagami stopped for a moment and listened. That was strange. How come there was no sound coming from the gym?

Giving up on his plan, he pushed the door open. To his surprise, the gym was completely empty! The mess from earlier was all cleaned up, all the basketballs had been put away in a cart, and none of his teammates were anywhere in sight.

 _What? Coach would never end practice early…_ Kagami stood at the entrance for a few more seconds, then bolted off to find where everyone had gone. Something must have happened if Riko had cancelled the rest of practice.

He ran towards the school's main building, asking anyone who happened to pass him if they had seen the basketball team. The students he asked shied away from him or pretended not to hear, and this only added to Kagami's frustration. Finally, while jogging through the halls, he saw a familiar face.

"Ah, senpai-" Hyuuga was leaning against the wall by himself, staring grimly at the ground. When he heard Kagami call out for him, he looked up and stood up straight, staring straight at Kagami.

"Where did everyone go-" Before he could even finish his sentence, Hyuuga's fist connected with Kagami's face. The punch wasn't enough to send Kagami flying or anything, but it definitely left an impression, and a mark. Kagami held his cheek and looked confusedly at Hyuuga. "What the hell was that for?!"

Hyuuga turned his back towards Kagami and started to walk away. "He's at the nurse's office."


End file.
